How Do Rectors of Foundation Universities in Istanbul Position Their Institutions? A Discourse Analysis of Rector Messages Regarding Mission and Vision

Abstract The main purpose of this research is to determine how the Rectors of Foundation Universities in Istanbul position their universities and to determine which positioning strategies are used by analysing the Rector messages. Rectors' messages on the websites of Foundation Universities were analysed using discourse analysis. The data of this study were analysed using descriptive analysis technique, which is one of the qualitative analysis methods. The study group of the research consists of Rector messages selected from Istanbul Foundation Universities. The positioning strategies of the Foundation Universities were analysed through descriptive analysis. The findings of the study show that Foundation Universities in Istanbul mostly position themselves according to the attribute as a result of clearly defining their goals. For this purpose, universities that clearly express their goals both influence the students who are their target group and distinguish themselves from other competitors. The least used positioning strategy is positioning by product user. In this case, when universities position themselves according to the product user, it can be thought that universities that have difficulty in determining the specific needs of the target group do not want to take risks in this regard.